Heimskringla
or
The Chronicle of the Kings of Norway
Saga of Harald Hardrade: Part II
Online Medieval and Classical Library Release
#15b
54. FALL OF KALF ARNASON.
The summer following (A.D. 1050) King Harald ordered out a levy,
and went to Denmark, where he plundered during the summer; but
when he came south to Fyen he found a great force assembled
against him. Then the king prepared to land his men from the
ships and to engage in a land-fight. He drew up his men on board
in order of battle; set Kalf Arnason at the head of one division;
ordered him to make the first attack, and told him where they
should direct their assault, promising that he would soon make a
landing with the others, and come to their assistance. When Kalf
came to the land with his men a force came down immediately to
oppose them, and Kalf without delay engaged in battle, which,
however, did not last long; for Kalf was immediately overpowered
by numbers, and betook himself to flight with his men. The Danes
pursued them vigorously, and many of the Northmen fell, and among
them Kalf Arnason. Now King Harald landed with his array; and
they soon came on their way to the field of battle, where they
found Kalf's body, and bore it down to the ships. But the king
penetrated into the country, killing many people and destroying
much. So says Arnor: --
"His shining sword with blood he stains,
Upon Fyona's grassy plains;
And in the midst of fire and smoke,
The king Fyona's forces broke."
55. FIN ARNASON'S EXPEDITION OUT OF THE COUNTRY.
After this Fin Arnason thought he had cause to be an enemy of the
king upon account of his brother Kalf's death; and said the king
had betrayed Kalf to his fall, and had also deceived him by
making him entice his brother Kalf to come over from the West and
trust to King Harald's faith. When these speeches came out among
people, many said that it was very foolish in Fin to have ever
supposed that Kalf could obtain the king's sincere friendship and
favour; for they thought the king was the man to seek revenge for
smaller offences than Kalf had committed against the king. The
king let every one say what he chose, and he himself neither said
yes or no about the affair; but people perceived that the king
was very well pleased with what had happened. King Harald once
made these verses: --
"I have, in all, the death-stroke given
To foes of mine at least eleven;
Two more, perhaps, if I remember,
May yet be added to this number,
I prize myself upon these deeds,
My people such examples needs.
Bright gold itself they would despise,
Or healing leek-herb underprize,
If not still brought before their eyes."
Fin Arnason took the business so much to heart that he left the
country and went to Denmark to King Svein, where he met a
friendly reception. They spoke together in private for a long
time; and the end of the business was that Fin went into King
Svein's service, and became his man. King Svein then gave Fin an
earldom, and placed him in Halland, where he was long earl and
defended the country against the Northmen.
56. OF GUTHORM GUNHILDSON.
Ketil Kalf and Gunhild of Ringanes had a son called Guthorm, and
he was a sister's son to King Olaf and Harald Sigurdson. Guthorm
was a gallant man, early advanced to manhood. He was often with
King Harald, who loved him much, and asked his advice; for he was
of good understanding, and very popular. Guthorm had also been
engaged early in forays, and had marauded much in the Western
countries with a large force. Ireland was for him a land of
peace; and he had his winter quarters often in Dublin, and was in
great friendship with King Margad.
57. GUTHORM'S JUNCTION WITH THE IRISH KING MARGAD.
The summer after King Margad, and Guthorm with him, went out on
an expedition against Bretland, where they made immense booty.
But when the king saw the quantity of silver which was gathered
he wanted to have the whole booty, and regarded little his
friendship for Guthorm. Guthorm was ill pleased that he and his
men should be robbed of their share; but the king said, "Thou
must choose one of two things, -- either to be content with what
we determine, or to fight; and they shall have the booty who gain
the victory; and likewise thou must give up thy ships, for them I
will have." Guthorm thought there were great difficulties on
both sides; for it was disgraceful to give up ships and goods
without a stroke, and yet it was highly dangerous to fight the
king and his force, the king having sixteen ships and Guthorm
only five. Then Guthorm desired three days' time to consider the
matter with his people, thinking in that time to pacify the king,
and come to a better understanding with him through the mediation
of others; but he could not obtain from the king what he desired.
This was the day before St. Olaf's day. Guthorm chose the
condition that they would rather die or conquer like men, than
suffer disgrace, contempt and scorn, by submitting to so great a
loss. He called upon God, and his uncle Saint Olaf, and
entreated their help and aid; promising to give to the holy man's
house the tenth of all the booty that fell to their share, if
they gained the victory. Then he arranged his men, placed them
in battle order against the great force, prepared for battle, and
gave the assault. By the help of God, and the holy Saint Olaf,
Guthorm won the battle. King Margad fell, and every man, old and
young, who followed him; and after that great victor, Guthorm and
all his people returned home joyfully with all the booty they had
gained by the battle. Every tenth penny of the booty they had
made was taken, according to the vow, to King Olaf the Saint's
shrine; and there was so much silver that Guthorm had an image
made of it, with rays round the head, which was the size of his
own, or of his forecastle-man's head; and the image was seven
feet high. The image thus produced was given by Guthorm to King
Olaf of the Saint's temple, where it has since remained as a
memorial of Guthorm's victory and King Olaf the Saint's miracle.
58. MIRACLE OF KING OLAF IN DENMARK.
There was a wicked, evil-minded count in Denmark who had a
Norwegian servant-girl whose family belonged to Throndhjem
district. She worshipped King Olaf the Saint, and believed
firmly in his sanctity. But the above mentioned count doubted
all that was told of the holy man's miracles, insisted that it
was nothing but nonsense and idle talk, and made a joke and scorn
of the esteem and honour which all the country people showed the
good king. Now when his holyday came, on which the mild monarch
ended his life, and which all Northmen kept sacred, this
unreasonable count would not observe it, but ordered his servant-
girl to bake and put fire in the oven that day. She knew well
the count's mad passion, and that he would revenge himself
severely on her if she refused doing as he ordered. She went,
therefore, of necessity, and baked in the oven, but wept much at
her work; and she threatened King Olaf that she never would
believe in him, if he did not avenge this misdeed by some
mischance or other. And now shall ye come to hear a well-
deserved vengeance, and a true miracle. It happened, namely, in
the same hour that the count became blind of both eyes, and the
bread which she had shoved into the oven was turned into stone!
Of these stones some are now in St. Olaf's temple, and in other
places; and since that time O1afsmas has been always held holy in
Denmark.
59. KING OLAF'S MIRACLE ON A CRIPPLE.
West in Valland, a man had such bad health that he became a
cripple, and went on his knees and elbows. One day he was upon
the road, and had fallen asleep. He dreamt that a gallant man
came up to him and asked him where he was going. When he named
the neighbouring town, the man said to him, "Go to Saint Olaf's
church that stands in London, and there thou shalt be cured."
There-upon he awoke, and went straightway to inquire the road to
Olaf's church in London. At last he came to London Bridge, and
asked the men of the castle if they could tell him where Olaf's
church was; but they replied, there were so many churches that
they could not tell to whom each of them was consecrated. Soon
after a man came up and asked him where he wanted to go, and he
answered to Olaf's church. Then said the man, "We shall both go
together to Olaf's church, for I know the way to it." Thereupon
they went over the bridge to the shrine where Olaf's church was;
and when they came to the gates of the churchyard the man mounted
over the half-door that was in the gate, but the cripple rolled
himself in, and rose up immediately sound and strong: when he
looked about him his conductor had vanished.
60. KING HARALD'S FORAY IN DENMARK.
King Harald had built a merchant town in the East at Oslo, where
he often resided; for there was good supply from the extensive
cultivated district wide around. There also he had a convenient
station to defend the country against the Danes, or to make an
attack upon Denmark, which he was in the custom of doing often,
although he kept no great force on foot. One summer King Harald
went from thence with a few light ships and a few men. He
steered southwards out from Viken, and, when the wind served,
stood over to Jutland, and marauded; but the country people
collected and defended the country. Then King Harald steered to
Limfjord, and went into the fjord. Limfjord is so formed that
its entrance is like a narrow river; but when one gets farther
into the fjord it spreads out into a wide sea. King Harald
marauded on both sides of the land; and when the Danes gathered
together on every side to oppose him, he lay at a small island
which was uncultivated. They wanted drink on board his ships,
and went up into the island to seek water; but finding none, they
reported it to the king. He ordered them to look for some long
earthworms on the island, and when they found one they brought it
to the king. He ordered the people to bring the worm to a fire,
and bake it before it, so that it should be thirsty. Then he
ordered a thread to be tied round the tail of the worm, and to
let it loose. The worm crept away immediately, while thread
wound off from the clew as the worm took it away; and the people
followed the worm until it sought downwards in the earth. There
the king ordered them to dig for water, which they did, and found
so much water that they had no want of it. King Harald now heard
from his spies that King Svein was come with a large armament to
the mouth of the fjord; but that it was too late for him to come
into it, as only one ship at a time can come in. King Harald
then steered with his fleet in through the fjord to where it was
broadest to a place called Lusbreid. In the inmost bight, there
is but a narrow neck of land dividing the fjord from the West
sea. Thither King Harald rowed with his men towards evening; and
at night when it was dark he unloaded his ships, drew them over
the neck of land into the West sea, loaded them again, and was
ready with all this before day. He then steered northwards along
the Jutland coast. People then said that Harald had escaped from
the hands of the Danes. Harald said that he would come to
Denmark next time with more people and larger vessels. King
Harald then proceeded north to Throndhjem.
61. KING HARALD HAD A SHIP BUILT.
King Harald remained all winter at Nidaros (A.D. 1062) and had a
vessel built out upon the strand, and it was a buss. The ship
was built of the same size as the Long Serpent, and every part of
her was finished with the greatest care. On the stem was a
dragon-head, and on the stern a dragon-tail, and the sides of the
bows of the ship were gilt. The vessel was of thirty-five rowers
benches, and was large for that size, and was remarkably
handsome; for the king had everything belonging to the ship's
equipment of the best, both sails and rigging, anchors and
cables. King Harald sent a message in winter south to Denmark to
King Svein, that he should come northwards in spring; that they
should meet at the Gaut river and fight, and so settle the
division of the countries that the one who gained the victory
should have both kingdoms.
62. KING HARALD'S CHALLENGE.
King Harald during this winter called out a general levy of all
the people of Norway, and assembled a great force towards spring.
Then Harald had his great ship drawn down and put into the river
Nid, and set up the dragon's head on her. Thiodolf, the skald,
sang about it thus: --
"My lovely girl! the sight was grand
When the great war-ships down the strand
Into the river gently slid,
And all below her sides was hid.
Come, lovely girl, and see the show! --
Her sides that on the water glow,
Her serpent-head with golden mane,
All shining back from the Nid again."
Then King Harald rigged out his ship, got ready for sea, and when
he had all in order went out of the river. His men rowed very
skilfully and beautifully. So says Thiodolf: --
"It was upon a Saturday,
Ship-tilts were struck and stowed away,
And past the town our dragon glides,
That girls might see our glancing sides.
Out from the Nid brave Harald steers;
Westward at first the dragon veers;
Our lads together down with oars,
The splash is echoed round the shores.
"Their oars our king's men handle well,
One stroke is all the eye can tell:
All level o'er the water rise;
The girls look on in sweet surprise.
Such things, they think, can ne'er give way;
The little know the battle day.
The Danish girls, who dread our shout,
Might wish our ship-gear not so stout.
"'Tis in the fight, not on the wave,
That oars may break and fail the brave.
At sea, beneath the ice-cold sky,
Safely our oars o'er ocean ply;
And when at Throndhjem's holy stream
Our seventy cars in distance gleam,
We seem, while rowing from the sea,
An erne with iron wings to be."
King Harald sailed south along the land, and called out the levy
everywhere of men and ships. When they came east to Viken they
got a strong wind against them and the forces lay dispersed about
in the harbour; some in the isles outside, and some in the
fjords. So says Thiodolf: --
"The cutters' sea-bleached bows scarce find
A shelter from the furious wind
Under the inland forests' side,
Where the fjord runs its farthest tide.
In all the isles and creeks around
The bondes' ships lie on the ground,
And ships with gunwales hung with shields
Seek the lee-side of the green fields."
In the heavy storm that raged for some time the great ship had
need of good ground tackle. So says Thiodolf: --
"With lofty bow above the seas,
Which curl and fly before the breeze,
The gallant vessel rides and reels,
And every plunge her cable feels.
The storm that tries the spar and mast
Tries the main-anchor at the last:
The storm above, below the rock,
Chafe the thick cable with each shock."
When the weather became favourable King Harald sailed eastwards
to the Gaut river with his fleet and arrived there in the
evening. So says Thiodolf: --
"The gallant Harald now has come
To Gaut, full half way from his home,
And on the river frontier stands,
To fight with Svein for life and lands.
The night passed o'er, the gallant king
Next day at Thumia calls a Thing,
Where Svein is challenged to appear --
A day which ravens wish were near."
63. OF KING HARALD'S FLEET.
When the Danes heard that the Northmen's army was come to the
Gaut river they all fled who had opportunity to get away. The
Northmen heard that the Danish king had also called out his
forces and lay in the south, partly at Fyen and partly about
Seeland. When King Harald found that King Svein would not hold a
meeting with him, or a fight, according to what had been agreed
upon between them, he took the same course as before -- letting
the bonde troops return home, but manning 150 ships, with which
he sailed southwards along Halland, where he herried all round,
and then brought up with his fleet in Lofufjord, and laid waste
the country. A little afterwards King Svein came upon them with
all the Danish fleet, consisting of 300 ships. When the Northmen
saw them King Harald ordered a general meeting of the fleet to be
called by sound of trumpet; and many there said it was better to
fly, as it was not now advisable to fight. The king replied,
"Sooner shall all lie dead one upon another than fly." So says
Stein Herdison: --
"With falcon eye, and courage bright,
Our king saw glory in the fight;
To fly, he saw, would ruin bring
On them and him -- the folk and king.
`Hands up the arms to one and all!'
Cries out the king; `we'll win or fall!
Sooner than fly, heaped on each other
Each man shall fall across his brother!'"
Then King Harald drew up his ships to attack, and brought forward
his great dragon in the middle of his fleet. So says Thiodolf:
--
"The brave king through his vessels' throng
His dragon war-ship moves along;
He runs her gaily to the front,
To meet the coming battle's brunt."
The ship was remarkably well equipt, and fully manned. So says
Thiodolf: --
"The king had got a chosen crew --
He told his brave lads to stand true.
The ring of shields seemed to enclose
The ship's deck from the boarding foes.
The dragon, on the Nis-river flood,
Beset with men, who thickly stood,
Shield touching shield, was something rare,
That seemed all force of man to dare."
Ulf, the marshal, laid his ship by the side of the king's and
ordered his men to bring her well forward. Stein Herdison, who
was himself in Ulf's ship, sings of it thus: --
"Our oars were stowed, our lances high,
As the ship moved swung in the sky.
The marshal Ulf went through our ranks,
Drawn up beside the rowers' banks:
The brave friend of our gallant king
Told us our ship well on to bring,
And fight like Norsemen in the cause --
Our Norsemen answered with huzzas."
Hakon Ivarson lay outside on the other wing, and had many ships
with him, all well equipt. At the extremity of the other side
lay the Throndhjem chiefs, who had also a great and strong force.
64. OF KING SVEIN'S ARMAMENT.
Svein, the Danish king, also drew up his fleet, and laid his ship
forward in the center against King Harald's ship, and Fin Arnason
laid his ship next; and then the Danes laid their ships,
according as they were bold or well-equipt. Then, on both sides,
they bound the ships together all through the middle of the
fleets; but as the fleets were so large, very many ships remained
loose, and each laid his ship forward according to his courage,
and that was very unequal. Although the difference among the men
was great, altogether there was a very great force on both sides.
King Svein had six earls among the people following him. So says
Stein Herdison: --
"Danger our chief would never shun,
With eight score ships he would not run:
The Danish fleet he would abide,
And give close battle side by side.
From Leire's coast the Danish king
Three hundred ocean steeds could bring,
And o'er the sea-weed plain in haste
Thought Harald's vessels would be chased."
65. BEGINNING OF THE BATTLE OF NIS-RIVER.
As soon as King Harald was ready with his fleet, he orders the
war-blast to sound, and the men to row forward to the attack. So
says Stein Herdison: --
"Harald and Svein first met as foes,
Where the Nis in the ocean flows;
For Svein would not for peace entreat,
But, strong in ships, would Harald meet.
The Norsemen prove, with sword in hand,
That numbers cannot skill withstand.
Off Halland's coast the blood of Danes
The blue sea's calm smooth surface stains."
Soon the battle began, and became very sharp; both kings urging
on their men. So says Stein Herdison: --
"Our king, his broad shield disregarding,
More keen for striking than for warding,
Now tells his lads their spears to throw, --
Now shows them where to strike a blow.
From fleet to fleet so short the way,
That stones and arrows have full play;
And from the keen sword dropped the blood
Of short-lived seamen in the flood."
It was late in the day when the battle began, and it continued
the whole night. King Harald shot for a long time with his bow.
So says Thiodolf: --
"The Upland king was all the night
Speeding the arrows' deadly flight.
All in the dark his bow-string's twang
Was answered; for some white shield rang,
Or yelling shriek gave certain note
The shaft had pierced some ring-mail coat,
The foemen's shields and bulwarks bore
A Lapland arrow-scat(1) or more."
Earl Hakon, and the people who followed him, did not make fast
their ships in the fleet, but rowed against the Danish ships that
were loose, and slew the men of all the ships they came up with.
When the Danes observed this each drew his ship out of the way of
the earl; but he set upon those who were trying to escape, and
they were nearly driven to flight. Then a boat came rowing to
the earl's ship and hailed him and said that the other wing of
King Harald's fleet was giving way and many of their people had
fallen. Then the earl rowed thither and gave so severe an
assault that the Danes had to retreat before him. The earl went
on in this way all the night, coming forward where he was most
wanted, and wheresoever he came none could stand against him.
Hakon rowed outside around the battle. Towards the end of the
night the greatest part of the Danish fleet broke into flight,
for then King Harald with his men boarded the vessel of King
Svein; and it was so completely cleared that all the crew fell in
the ship, except those who sprang overboard. So says Arnor, the
earls' skald: --
"Brave Svein did not his vessel leave
Without good cause, as I believe:
Oft on his casque the sword-blade rang,
Before into the sea he sprang.
Upon the wave his vessel drives;
All his brave crew had lost their lives.
O'er dead courtmen into the sea
The Jutland king had now to flee."
And when King Svein's banner was cut down, and his ship cleared
of its crew, all his forces took to flight, and some were killed.
The ships which were bound together could not be cast loose, so
the people who were in them sprang overboard, and some got to the
other ships that were loose; and all King Svein's men who could
get off rowed away, but a great many of them were slain. Where
the king himself fought the ships were mostly bound together, and
there were more than seventy left behind of King Svein's vessels.
So says Thiodolf: --
"Svein's ships rode proudly o'er the deep,
When, by a single sudden sweep,
Full seventy sail, as we are told,
Were seized by Norway's monarch bold."
King Harald rowed after the Danes and pursued them; but that was
not easy, for the ships lay so thick together that they scarcely
could move. Earl Fin Arnason would not flee; and being also
shortsighted, was taken prisoner. So says Thiodolf: --
"To the six Danish earls who came
To aid his force, and raise his name,
No mighty thanks King Svein is owing
For mighty actions of their doing.
Fin Arnason, in battle known,
With a stout Norse heart of his own,
Would not take flight his life to gain,
And in the foremost ranks was ta'en."
ENDNOTES:
(1) The Laplanders paid their seat, or yearly tax, in bows and
arrows; and the meaning of the skald appears to be, that as
many as were paid in a year were shot at the foe. -- L.
66. KING SVEIN'S FLIGHT.
Earl Hakon lay behind with his ships, while the king and the rest
of the forces were pursuing the fugitives; for the earls' ships
could not get forward on account of the ships which lay in the
way before him. Then a man came rowing in a boat to the earl's
ship and lay at the bulwarks. The man was stout and had on a
white hat. He hailed the ship, "Where is the earl?" said he.
The earl was in the fore-hold, stopping a man's blood. The earl
cast a look at the man in the hat and asked what his name was.
He answered, "Here is Vandrad: speak to me, earl."
The earl leant over the ship's side to him. Then the man in the
boat said, "Earl, I will accept of my life from thee, if thou
wilt give it."
Then the earl raised himself up, called two men who were friends
dear to him, and said to them, "Go into the boat; bring Vandrad
to the land; attend him to my friend's Karl the bonde; and tell
Karl, as a token that these words come from me, that he let
Vandrad have the horse which I gave to him yesterday, and also
his saddle, and his son to attend him."
Thereupon they went into the boat and took the oars in hand,
while Vandrad steered. This took place just about daybreak,
while the vessels were in movement, some rowing towards the land,
some towards the sea, both small and great. Vandrad steered
where he thought there was most room between the vessels; and
when they came near to Norway's ships the earl's men gave their
names and then they all allowed them to go where they pleased.
Vandrad steered along the shore, and only set in towards the land
when they had come past the crowd of ships. They then went up to
Karl the bonde's farm, and it was then beginning to be light.
They went into the room where Karl had just put on his clothes.
The earl's men told him their message and Karl said they must
first take some food; and he set a table before them and gave
them water to wash with.
Then came the housewife into the room and said, "I wonder why we
could get no peace or rest all night with the shouting and
screaming."
Karl replies, "Dost thou not know that the kings were fighting
all night?"
She asked which had the better of it.
Karl answered, "The Northmen gained."
"Then," said she, "our king will have taken flight."
"Nobody knows," says Karl, "whether he has fled or is fallen."
She says, "What a useless sort of king we have! He is both slow
and frightened."
Then said Vandrad, "Frightened he is not; but he is not lucky."
Then Vandrad washed his hands; but he took the towel and dried
them right in the middle of the cloth. The housewife snatched
the towel from him, and said, "Thou hast been taught little good;
it is wasteful to wet the whole cloth at one time.
Vandrad replies, "I may yet come so far forward in the world as
to be able to dry myself with the middle of the towel."
Thereupon Karl set a table before them and Vandrad sat down
between them. They ate for a while and then went out. The horse
was saddled and Karl's son ready to follow him with another
horse. They rode away to the forest; and the earl's men returned
to the boat, rowed to the earl's ship and told the success of
their expedition.
67. OF KING HARALD.
King Harald and his men followed the fugitives only a short way,
and rowed back to the place where the deserted ships lay. Then
the battle-place was ransacked, and in King Svein's ship was
found a heap of dead men; but the king's body was not found,
although people believed for certain that he had fallen. Then
King Harald had the greatest attention paid to the dead of his
men, and had the wounds of the living bound up. The dead bodies
of Svein's men were brought to the land, and he sent a message to
the peasants to come and bury them. Then he let the booty be
divided, and this took up some time. The news came now that King
Svein had come to Seeland, and that all who had escaped from the
battle had joined him, along with many more, and that he had a
great force.
68. FIN ARNASON GETS QUARTER.
Earl Fin Arnason was taken prisoner in the battle, as before
related; and when he was led before King Harald the king was very
merry, and said, "Fin, we meet here now, and we met last in
Norway. The Danish court has not stood very firmly by thee; and
it will be a troublesome business for Northmen to drag thee, a
blind old man, with them, and preserve thy life."
The earl replies, "The Northmen find it very difficult now to
conquer, and it is all the worse that thou hast the command of
them."
Then said King Harald, "Wilt thou accept of life and safety,
although thou hast not deserved it?"
The earl replies, "Not from thee, thou dog."
The king: "Wilt thou, then, if thy relation Magnus gives thee
quarter?"
Magnus, King Harald's son, was then steering the ship.
The earl replies, "Can the whelp rule over life and quarter?"
The king laughed, as if he found amusement in vexing him. --
"Wilt thou accept thy life, then, from thy she-relation Thorer?"
The earl: "Is she here?"
"She is here," said the king.
Then Earl Fin broke out with the ugly expressions which since
have been preserved, as a proof that he was so mad with rage that
he could not govern his tongue: --
"No wonder thou hast bit so strongly, if the mare was with thee."
Earl Fin got life and quarter and the king kept him a while about
him. But Fin was rather melancholy and obstinate in
conversation; and King Harald said, "I see, Fin, that thou dost
not live willingly in company with me and thy relations; now I
will give thee leave to go to thy friend King Svein."
The earl said, "I accept of the offer willingly, and the more
gratefully the sooner I get away from hence."
The king afterwards let Earl Fin be landed and the traders going
to Halland received him well. King Harald sailed from thence to
Norway with his fleet; and went first to Oslo, where he gave all
his people leave to go home who wished to do so.
69. OF KING SVEIN.
King Svein, it is told, sat in Denmark all that winter, and had
his kingdom as formerly. In winter he sent men north to Halland
for Karl the bonde and his wife. When Karl came the king called
him to him and asked him if he knew him, or thought he had ever
seen him before.
Karl replies, "I know thee, sire, and knew thee before, the
moment I saw thee; and God be praised if the small help I could
give was of any use to thee."
The king replies, "I have to reward thee for all the days I have
to live. And now, in the first place, I will give thee any farm
in Seeland thou wouldst desire to have; and, in the next place,
will make thee a great man, if thou knowest how to conduct
thyself."
Karl thanked the king for his promise, and said he had now but
one thing to ask.
The king asked what that was.
Karl said that he would ask to take his wife with him.
The king said, "I will not let thee do that; but I will provide
thee a far better and more sensible wife. But thy wife can keep
the bonde-farm ye had before and she will have her living from
it."
The king gave Karl a great and valuable farm, and provided him a
good marriage; and he became a considerable man. This was
reported far and wide and much praised; and thus it came to be
told in Norway.
70. OF THE TALK OF THE COURT-MEN.
King Harald stayed in Oslo the winter after the battle at Nis-
river (A.D. 1063). In autumn, when the men came from the south,
there was much talk and many stories about the battle which they
had fought at Nis-river, and every one who had been there thought
he could tell something about it. Once some of them sat in a
cellar and drank, and were very merry and talkative. They talked
about the Nis-river battle, and who had earne'd the greatest
praise and renown. They all agreed that no man there had been at
all equal to Earl Hakon. He was the boldest in arms, the
quickest, and the most lucky; what he did was of the greatest
help, and he won the battle. King Harald, in the meantime, was
out in the yard, and spoke with some people. He went then to the
room-door, and said, "Every one here would willingly be called
Hakon;" and then went his way.
71. OF THE ATTEMPT TO TAKE EARL HAKON.
Earl Hakon went in winter to the Uplands, and was all winter in
his domains. He was much beloved by all the Uplanders. It
happened, towards spring, that some men were sitting drinking in
the town, and the conversation turned, as usual, on the Nis-river
battle; and some praised Earl Hakon, and some thought others as
deserving of praise as he. When they had thus disputed a while,
one of them said, "It is possible that others fought as bravely
as the earl at Nis-river; but none, I think, has had such luck
with him as he."
The others replied, that his best luck was his driving so many
Danes to flight along with other men.
The same man replied, "It was greater luck that he gave King
Svein quarter."
One of the company said to him, "Thou dost not know what thou art
saying."
He replied, "I know it for certain, for the man told me himself
who brought the king to the land."
It went, according to the old proverb, that the king has many
ears. This was told the king, and he immediately ordered horses
to be gathered, and rode away directly with 900 men. He rode all
that night and the following day. Then some men met them who
were riding to the town with mead and malt. In the king's
retinue was a man called Gamal, who rode to one of these bondes
who was an acquaintance of his, and spoke to him privately. "I
will pay thee," said he, "to ride with the greatest speed, by the
shortest private paths that thou knowest, to Earl Hakon, and tell
him the king will kill him; for the king has got to the knowledge
that Earl Hakon set King Svein on shore at Nis-river." They
agreed on the payment. The bonde rode, and came to the earl just
as he was sitting drinking, and had not yet gone to bed. When
the bonde told his errand, the earl immediately stood up with all
his men, had all his loose property removed from the farm to the
forest, and all the people left the house in the night. When the
king came he halted there all night; but Hakon rode away, and
came east to Svithjod to King Steinkel and stayed with him all
summer. King Harald returned to the town, travelled northwards
to Throndhjem district, and remained there all summer; but in
autumn he returned eastwards to Viken.
72. OF EARL HAKON.
As soon as Earl Hakon heard the king had gone north he returned
immediately in summer to the Uplands (A.D. 1063), and remained
there until the king had returned from the north. Then the earl
went east into Vermaland, where he remained during the winter,
and where the king, Steinkel, gave him fiefs. For a short time
in winter he went west to Raumarike with a great troop of men
from Gautland and Vermaland, and received the scat and duties
from the Upland people which belonged to him, and then returned
to Glutland, and remained there till spring. King Harald had his
seat in Oslo all winter (A.D. 1064), and sent his men to the
Uplands to demand the scat, together with the king's land dues,
and the mulcts of court; but the Uplanders said they would pay
all the scat and dues which they had to pay, to Earl Hakon as
long as he was in life, and had forfeited his life or his fief;
and the king got no dues that winter.
73. AGREEMENT BETWEEN KING HARALD AND KING SVEIN.
This winter messengers and ambassadors went between Norway and
Denmark, whose errand was that both Northmen and Danes should
make peace, and a league with each other. and to ask the kings to
agree to it. These messages gave favourable hopes of a peace;
and the matter proceeded so far that a meeting for peace was
appointed at the Gaut river between King Harald and King Svein.
When spring approached, both kings assembled many ships and
people for this meeting. So says a skald in a poem on this
expedition of the kings, which begins thus: --
"The king, who from the northern sound
His land with war-ships girds around,
The raven-feeder, filled the coast
With his proud ships, a gallant host!
The gold-tipped stems dash through the foam
That shakes the seamen's planked home;
The high wave breaks up to the mast,
As west of Halland on they passed,
"Harald whose word is fixed and sure,
Whose ships his land from foes secure,
And Svein, whose isles maintain is fleet,
Hasten as friends again to meet;
And every creek with vessels teems, --
All Denmark men and shipping seems;
And all rejoice that strife will cease,
And men meet now but to make peace."
Here it is told that the two kings held the meeting that was
agreed upon between them, and both came to the frontiers of their
kingdoms. So says the skald: --
"To meet (since peace the Dane now craves)
On to the south upon the waves
Sailed forth our gallant northern king,
Peace to the Danes with him to bring.
Svein northward to his frontier hies
To get the peace his people prize,
And meet King Harald, whom he finds
On land hard used by stormy winds."
When the kings found each other, people began at once to talk of
their being reconciled. But as soon as peace was proposed, many
began to complain of the damage they had sustained by harrying,
robbing and killing men; and for a long time it did not look very
like peace. It is here related: --
"Before this meeting of the kings
Each bende his own losses brings,
And loudly claims some recompense
From his king's foes, at their expense.
It is not easy to make peace,
Where noise and talking never cease:
The bondes' warmth may quickly spread,
And kings be by the people led.
"When kings are moved, no peace is sure;
For that peace only is secure
Which they who make it fairly make, --
To each side give, from each side take.
The kings will often rule but ill
Who listen to the people's will:
The people often have no view
But their own interests to pursue."
At last the best men, and those who were the wisest, came between
the kings, and settled the peace thus: -- that Harald should have
Norway, and Svein Denmark, according to the boundaries of old
established between Denmark and Norway; neither of them should
pay to the other for any damage sustained; the war should cease
as it now stood, each retaining what he had got; and this peace
should endure as long as they were kings. This peace was
confirmed by oath. Then the kings parted, having given each
other hostages, as is here related: --
"And I have heard that to set fast
The peace God brought about at last,
Svein and stern Harald pledges sent,
Who witnessed to their sworn intent;
And much I wish that they and all
In no such perjury may fall
That this peace ever should be broken,
And oaths should fail before God spoken."
King Harald with his people sailed northwards to Norway, and King
Svein southwards to Denmark.
74. KING HARALD'S BATTLE WITH EARL HAKON.
King Harald was in Viken in the summer (A.D. 1064), and he sent
his men to the Uplands after the scat and duty which belonged to
him; but the bondes paid no attention to the demand, but said
they would hold all for Earl Hakon until he came for it. Earl
Hakon was then up in Gautland with a large armed force. When
summer was past King Harald went south to Konungahella. Then he
took all the light-sailing vessels he could get hold of and
steered up the river. He had the vessels drawn past all the
waterfalls and brought them thus into the Wener lake. Then he
rowed eastward across the lake to where he heard Earl Hakon was;
but when the earl got news of the king's expedition he retreated
down the country, and would not let the king plunder the land.
Earl Hakon had a large armed force which the Gautland people had
raised for him. King Harald lay with his ships up in a river,
and made a foray on land, but left some of his men behind to
protect the ships. The king himself rode up with a part of the
men, but the greater part were on foot. They had to cross a
forest, where they found a mire or lake, and close to it a wood;
and when they reached the wood they saw the earl's men, but the
mire was between them. They drew up their people now on both
sides. Then King Harald ordered his men to sit down on the
hillside. "We will first see if they will attack us. Earl Hakon
does not usually wait to talk." It was frosty weather, with some
snow-drift, and Harald's men sat down under their shields; but it
was cold for the Gautlanders, who had but little clothing with
them. The earl told them to wait until King Harald came nearer,
so that all would stand equally high on the ground. Earl Hakon
had the same banner which had belonged to King Magnus Olafson.
The lagman of the Gautland people, Thorvid, sat upon a horse, and
the bridle was fastened to a stake that stood in the mire. He
broke out with these words: "God knows we have many brave and
handsome fellows here, and we shall let King Steinkel hear that
we stood by the good earl bravely. I am sure of one thing: we
shall behave gallantly against these Northmen, if they attack us;
but if our young people give way, and should not stand to it, let
us not run farther than to that stream; but if they should give
way farther, which I am sure they will not do, let it not be
farther than to that hill." At that instant the Northmen sprang
up, raised the war-cry, and struck on their shields; and the
Gautland army began also to shout. The lagman's horse got shy
with the war-cry, and backed so hard that the stake flew up and
struck the lagman on the head. He said, "Ill luck to thee,
Northman, for that arrow!" and away fled the lagman. King Harald
had told his people, "If we do make a clash with the weapons, we
shall not however, go down from the hill until they come nearer
to us;" and they did so. When the war-cry was raised the earl
let his banner advance; but when they came under the hill the
king's army rushed down upon them, and killed some of the earl's
people, and the rest fled. The Northmen did not pursue the
fugitives long, for it was the fall of day; but they took Earl
Hakon's banner and all the arms and clothes they could get hold
of. King Harald had both the banners carried before him as they
marched away. They spoke among themselves that the earl had
probably fallen. As they were riding through the forest they
could only ride singly, one following the other. Suddenly a man
came full gallop across the path, struck his spear through him
who was carrying the earl's banner, seized the banner-staff, and
rode into the forest on the other side with the banner. When
this was told the king he said, "Bring me my armour, for the earl
is alive." Then the king rode to his ships in the night; and
many said that the earl had now taken his revenge. But Thiodolf
sang thus: --
"Steinkel's troops, who were so bold,
Who the Earl Hakon would uphold,
Were driven by our horsemen's power
To Hel, death goddess, in an hour;
And the great earl, so men say
Who won't admit he ran away,
Because his men fled from the ground,
Retired, and cannot now be found."
75. DEATH OF HAL, THE MURDERER OF KODRAN.
The rest of the night Harald passed in his ships; but in the
morning, when it was daylight, it was found that so thick ice had
gathered about the vessels that one could walk around them. The
king ordered his men to cut the ice from the ships all the way
out to the clear water; on which they all went to break the ice.
King Harald's son, Magnus, steered the vessel that lay lowest
down the river and nearest the water. When the people had
cleared the ice away almost entirely, a man ran out to the ice,
and began hewing away at it like a madman. Then said one of the
men, "It is going now as usual, that none can do so much as Hal
who killed Kodran, when once he lays himself to the work. See
how he is hewing away at the ice." There was a man in the crew
of Magnus, the king's son, who was called Thormod Eindridason;
and when he heard the name of Kodran's murderer he ran up to Hal,
and gave him a death-wound. Kodran was a son of Gudmund
Eyjolfson; and Valgerd, who was a sister of Gudmund, was the
mother of Jorun, and the grandmother by the mother's side of this
Thormod. Thormod was a year old when Kodran was killed, and had
never seen Hal Utrygson until now. When the ice was broken all
the way out to the water, Magnus drew his ship out, set sail
directly, and sailed westward across the lake; but the king's
ship, which lay farthest up the river, came out the last. Hal
had been in the king's retinue, and was very dear to him; so that
the king was enraged at his death. The king came the last into
the harbour, and Magnus had let the murderer escape into the
forest, and offered to pay the mulct for him; and the king had
very nearly attacked Magnus and his crew, but their friends came
up and reconciled them.
76. OF KING HARALD.
That winter (A.D. 1065) King Harald went up to Raumarike, and had
many people with him; and he accused the bondes there of having
kept from him his scat and duties, and of having aided his
enemies to raise disturbance against him. He seized on the
bondes and maimed some, killed others, and robbed many of all
their property. They who could do it fled from him. He burned
everything in the districts and laid them altogether waste. So
says Thiodolf: --
"He who the island-people drove,
When they against his power strove,
Now bridle's Raumarike's men,
Marching his forces through their glen.
To punish them the fire he lights
That shines afar off in dark nights
From house and yard, and, as he says,
Will warn the man who disobeys."
Thereafter the king went up to Hedemark, burnt the dwellings, and
made no less waste and havoc there than in Raumarike. From
thence he went to Hadeland and Ringerike, burning and ravaging
all the land. So says Thiodolf: --
"The bonde's household goods are seen
Before his door upon the green,
Smoking and singed: and sparks red hot
Glow in the thatched roof of his cot.
In Hedemark the bondes pray
The king his crushing hand to stay;
In Ringerike and Hadeland,
None 'gainst his fiery wrath can stand."
Then the bondes left all to the king's mercy. After the death of
King Magnus fifteen years had passed when the battle at Nis-river
took place, and afterwards two years elapsed before Harald and
Svein made peace. So says Thiodolf: --
"The Hordland king under the land
At anchor lay close to the strand,
At last, prepared with shield and spear
The peace was settled the third year."
After this peace the disturbances with the people of the Upland
districts lasted a year and a half. So says Thiodolf: --
"No easy task it is to say
How the king brought beneath his sway
The Upland bondes, and would give
Nought but their ploughs from which to live.
The king in eighteen months brought down
Their bonde power, and raised his own,
And the great honour he has gained
Will still in memory be retained."
77. OF THE KINGS OF ENGLAND.
Edward, Ethelred's son, was king of England after his brother
Hardacanute. He was called Edward the Good; and so he was. King
Edward's mother was Queen Emma, daughter of Richard, earl of
Rouen. Her brother was Earl Robert, whose son was William the
Bastard, who at that time was earl at Rouen in Normandy. King
Edward's queen was Gyda, a daughter of Earl Godwin, the son of
Ulfnad. Gyda's brothers were, Earl Toste, the eldest; Earl
Morukare the next; Earl Walter the third; Earl Svein the fourth;
and the fifth was Harald, who was the youngest, and he was
brought up at King Edward's court, and was his foster-son. The
king loved him very much, and kept him as his own son; for he had
no children.
78. OF HARALD GODWINSON.
One summer it happened that Harald, the son of Godwin, made an
expedition to Bretland with his ships, but when they got to sea
they met a contrary wind, and were driven off into the ocean.
They landed west in Normandy, after suffering from a dangerous
storm. They brought up at Rouen, where they met Earl William,
who received Harald and his company gladly. Harald remained
there late in harvest, and was hospitably entertained; for the
stormy weather continued, and there was no getting to sea, and
this continued until winter set in; so the earl and Harald agreed
that he should remain there all winter. Harald sat on the high-
seat on one side of the earl; and on the other side sat the
earl's wife, one of the most beautiful women that could be seen.
They often talked together for amusement at the drinking-table;
and the earl went generally to bed, but Harald and the earl's
wife sat long in the evenings talking together, and so it went on
for a great part of the winter. In one of their conversations
she said to Harald, "The earl has asked me what it is we have to
talk about so much, for he is angry at it." Harald replies, "We
shall then at once let him know all our conversation." The
following day, Harald asked the earl to a conference, and they
went together into the conference-chamber; where also the queen
was, and some of the councillors. Then Harald began thus: -- "I
have to inform you, earl, that there lies more in my visit here
than I have let you know. I would ask your daughter in marriage,
and have often spoke over this matter with her mother, and she
has promised to support my suit with you." As soon as Harald had
made known this proposal of his, it was well received by all who
were present. They explained the case to the earl; and at last
it came so far that the earl was contracted to Harald, but as she
was very young, it was resolved that the wedding should be
deferred for some years.
79. KING EDWARD'S DEATH.
When spring came Harald rigged his ships and set off; and he and
the earl parted with great friendship. Harald sailed over to
England to King Edward, but did not return to Valland to fulfill
the marriage agreement. Edward was king over England for twenty-
three years and died on a bed of sickness in London on the 5th of
January, and was buried in Paul's church. Englishmen call him a
saint.
80. HARALD GODWINSON MADE KING OF ENGLAND.
The sons of Earl Godwin were the most powerful men in England.
Toste was made chief of the English king's army, and was his
land-defence man when the king began to grow old; and he was also
placed above all the other earls. His brother Harald was always
with the court itself, and nearest to the king in all service,
and had the charge of the king's treasure-chamber. It is said
that when the king was approaching his last hour, Harald and a
few others were with him. Harald first leans down over the king,
and then said, "I take you all to witness that the king has now
given me the kingdom, and all the realm of England:" and then the
king was taken dead out of the bed. The same day there was a
meeting of the chiefs, at which there was some talk of choosing a
king; and then Harald brought forward his witnesses that King
Edward had given him the kingdom on his dying day. The meeting
ended by choosing Harald as king, and he was consecrated and
crowned the 13th day of Yule, in Paul's church. Then all the
chiefs and all the people submitted to him. Now when his
brother, Earl Toste, heard of this he took it very ill, as he
thought himself quite as well entitled to be king. "I want,"
said he, "that the principal men of the country choose him whom
they think best fitted for it." And sharp words passed between
the brothers. King Harald says he will not give up his kingly
dignity, for he is seated on the throne which kings sat upon, and
is anointed and consecrated a king. On his side also was the
strength of the people, for he had the king's whole treasure.
81. EARL TOSTE'S EXPEDITION TO DENMARK.
Now when King Harald perceived that his brother Toste wanted to
have him deprived of the kingdom he did not trust him; for Toste
was a clever man, and a great warrior, and was in friendship with
the principal men of the country. He therefore took the command
of the army from Toste, and also all the power he had beyond that
of the other earls of the country. Earl Toste, again, would not
submit to be his own brother's serving man; therefore he went
with his people over the sea to Flanders, and stayed there
awhile, then went to Friesland, and from thence to Denmark to his
relation King Svein. Earl Ulf, King Svein's father, and Gyda,
Earl Toste's mother, were brother's and sister's children. The
earl now asked King Svein for support and help of men; and King
Svein invited him to stay with him, with the promise that he
should get so large an earldom in Denmark that he would be an
important chief.
The earl replies, "My inclination is to go back to my estate in
England; but if I cannot get help from you for that purpose, I
will agree to help you with all the power I can command in
England, if you will go there with the Danish army, and win the
country, as Canute, your mother's brother, did."
The king replied, "So much smaller a man am I than Canute the
Great, that I can with difficulty defend my own Danish dominions
against the Northmen. King Canute, on the other hand, got the
Danish kingdom in heritage, took England by slash and blow, and
sometimes was near losing his life in the contest; and Norway he
took without slash or blow. Now it suits me much better to be
guided by my own slender ability than to imitate my relation,
King Canute's, lucky hits."
Then Earl Toste said, "The result of my errand here is less
fortunate than I expected of thee who art so gallant a man,
seeing that thy relative is in so great need. It may be that I
will seek friendly help where it could less be expected; and that
I may find a chief who is less afraid, king, than thou art of a
great enterprise."
Then the king and the earl parted, not just the best friends.
82. EARL TOSTE'S EXPEDITION TO NORWAY.
Earl Toste turned away then and went to Norway, where he
presented himself to King Harald, who was at that time in Viken.
When they met the earl explained his errand to the king. He told
him all his proceedings since he left England, and asked his aid
to recover his dominions in England.
The king replied that the Northmen had no great desire for a
campaign in England, and to have English chiefs over them there.
"People say," added he, "that the English are not to be trusted."
The earl replied, "Is it true what I have heard people tell in
England, that thy relative, King Magnus, sent men to King Edward
with the message that King Magnus had right to England as well as
to Denmark, and had got that heritage after Hardacanute, in
consequence of a regular agreement?"
The king replied, "How came it that he did not get it, if he had
a right to it?"
"Why," replied the earl, "hast thou not Denmark, as King Magnus,
thy predecessor, had it?"
The king replies, "The Danes have nothing to brag of over us
Northmen; for many a place have we laid in ashes to thy
relations."
Then said the earl, "If thou wilt not tell me, I will tell thee.
Magnus subdued Denmark, because all the chiefs of the country
helped him; and thou hast not done it, because all the people of
the country were against thee. Therefore, also, King Magnus did
not strive for England, because all the nation would have Edward
for king. Wilt thou take England now? I will bring the matter
so far that most of the principal men in England shall be thy
friends, and assist thee; for nothing is wanting to place me at
the side of my brother Harald but the king's name. All men allow
that there never was such a warrior in the northern lands as thou
art; and it appears to me extraordinary that thou hast been
fighting for fifteen years for Denmark, and wilt not take England
that lies open to thee."
King Harald weighed carefully the earl's words, and perceived at
once that there was truth in much of what he said; and he himself
had also a great desire to acquire dominions. Then King Harald
and the earl talked long and frequently together; and at last he
took the resolution to proceed in summer to England, and conquer
the country. King Harald sent a message-token through all Norway
and ordered out a levy of one-half of all the men in Norway able
to carry arms. When this became generally known, there were many
guesses about what might be the end of this expedition. Some
reckoned up King Harald's great achievements, and thought he was
also the man who could accomplish this. Others, again, said that
England was difficult to attack; that it was very full of people;
and the men-at-arms, who were called Thingmen, were so brave,
that one of them was better than two of Harald's best men. Then
said Ulf the marshal: --
"I am still ready gold to gain;
But truly it would be in vain,
And the king's marshal in the hall
Might leave his good post once for all,
If two of us in any strife
Must for one Thingman fly for life,
My lovely Norse maid, in my youth
We thought the opposite the truth."
Ulf the marshal died that spring (A.D. 1066). King Harald stood
over his grave, and said, as he was leaving it, "There lies now
the truest of men, and the most devoted to his king."
Earl Toste sailed in spring west to Flanders, to meet the people
who had left England with him, and others besides who had
gathered to him both out of England and Flanders.
83. GYRD'S DREAMS.
King Harald's fleet assembled at the Solunds. When King Harald
was ready to leave Nidaros he went to King Olaf's shrine,
unlocked it, clipped his hair and nails, and locked the shrine
again, and threw the keys into the Nid. Some say he threw them
overboard outside of Agdanes; and since then the shrine of Saint
Olaf, the king, has never been opened. Thirty-five years had
passed since he was slain; and he lived thirty-five years here on
earth (A.D. 1080-1066). King Harald sailed with his ships he had
about him to the south to meet his people, and a great fleet was
collected; so that. according to the people's reckoning, King
Harald had nearly 200 ships beside provision-ships and small
craft.
While they lay at the Solunds a man called Gyrd, on board the
king's ship, had a dream. He thought he was standing in the
king's ship and saw a great witch-wife standing on the island,
with a fork in one hand and a trough in the other. He thought
also that he saw over all the fleet, and that a fowl was sitting
upon every ship's stern, and that these fowls were all ravens or
ernes; and the witch-wife sang this song: --
"From the east I'll 'tice the king,
To the west the king I'll bring;
Many a noble bone will be
Ravens o'er Giuke's ship are fitting,
Eyeing the prey they think most fitting.
Upon the stem I'll sail with them!
Upon the stem I'll sail with them!"
84. THORD'S DREAM.
There was also a man called Thord, in a ship which lay not far
from the king's. He dreamt one night that he saw King Harald's
fleet coming to land, and he knew the land to be England. He saw
a great battle-array on the land; and he thought both sides began
to fight, and had many banners flapping in the air. And before
the army of the people of the country was riding a huge witch-
wife upon a wolf; and the wolf had a man's carcass in his mouth,
and the blood was dropping from his jaws; and when he had eaten
up one body she threw another into his mouth, and so one after
another, and he swallowed them all. And she sang thus: --
"Skade's eagle eyes
The king's ill luck espies:
Though glancing shields
Hide the green fields,
The king's ill luck she spies.
To bode the doom of this great king,
The flesh of bleeding men I fling
To hairy jaw and hungry maw!
To hairy jaw and hungry maw!"
85. KING HARALD'S DREAM.
King Harald also dreamt one night that he was in Nidaros, and met
his brother, King Olaf, who sang to him these verses: --
"In many a fight
My name was bright;
Men weep, and tell
How Olaf fell.
Thy death is near;
Thy corpse, I fear,
The crow will feed,
The witch-wife's steed."
Many other dreams and forebodings were then told of, and most of
them gloomy. Before King Harald left Throndhjem, he let his son
Magnus be proclaimed king and set him as king over Norway while
he was absent. Thora, the daughter of Thorberg, also remained
behind; but he took with him Queen Ellisif and her two daughters,
Maria and Ingegerd. Olaf, King Harald's son, also accompanied
his father abroad.
86. BATTLE AT SCARBOROUGH.
When King Harald was clear for sea, and the wind became
favourable, he sailed out into the ocean; and he himself landed
in Shetland, but a part of his fleet in the Orkney Islands. King
Harald stopped but a short time in Shetland before sailing to
Orkney, from whence he took with him a great armed force, and the
earls Paul and Erlend, the sons of Earl Thorfin; but he left
behind him here the Queen Ellisif, and her daughters Maria and
Ingegerd. Then he sailed, leaving Scotland and England westward
of him, and landed at a place called Klifland. There he went on
shore and plundered, and brought the country in subjection to him
without opposition. Then he brought up at Skardaburg, and fought
with the people of the place. He went up a hill which is there,
and made a great pile upon it, which he set on fire; and when the
pile was in clear flame, his men took large forks and pitched the
burning wood down into the town, so that one house caught fire
after the other, and the town surrendered. The Northmen killed
many people there and took all the booty they could lay hold of.
There was nothing left for the Englishmen now, if they would
preserve their lives, but to submit to King Harald; and thus he
subdued the country wherever he came. Then the king proceeded
south along the land, and brought up at Hellornes, where there
came a force that had been assembled to oppose him, with which he
had a battle, and gained the victory.
87. OF HARALD'S ORDER OF BATTLE.
Thereafter the king sailed to the Humber, and up along the river,
and then he landed. Up in Jorvik were two earls, Earl Morukare,
and his brother, Earl Valthiof, and they had an immense army.
While the army of the earls was coming down from the upper part
of the country, King Harald lay in the Usa. King Harald now went
on the land, and drew up his men. The one arm of this line stood
at the outer edge of the river, the other turned up towards the
land along a ditch; and there was also a morass, deep, broad, and
full of water. The earls let their army proceed slowly down
along the river, with all their troops in line. The king's
banner was next the river, where the line was thickest. It was
thinnest at the ditch, where also the weakest of the men were.
When the earls advanced downwards along the ditch, the arm of the
Northmen's line which was at the ditch gave way; and the
Englishmen followed, thinking the Northmen would fly. The banner
of Earl Morukare advanced then bravely.
88. THE BATTLE AT THE HUMBER.
When King Harald saw that the English array had come to the ditch
against him, he ordered the charge to be sounded, and urged on
his men. He ordered the banner which was called the Land-ravager
to be carried before him, and made so severe an assault that all
had to give way before it; and there was a great loss among the
men of the earls, and they soon broke into flight, some running
up the river, some down, and the most leaping into the ditch,
which was so filled with dead that the Norsemen could go dry-foot
over the fen. There Earl Morukare fell. So says Stein Herdison:
--
"The gallant Harald drove along,
Flying but fighting, the whole throng.
At last, confused, they could not fight,
And the whole body took to flight.
Up from the river's silent stream
At once rose desperate splash and scream;
But they who stood like men this fray
Round Morukare's body lay."
This song was composed by Stein Herdison about Olaf, son of King
Harald; and he speaks of Olaf being in this battle with King
Harald, his father. These things are also spoken of in the song
called "Harald's Stave": --
"Earl Valthiof's men
Lay in the fen,
By sword down hewed,
So thickly strewed,
That Norsemen say
They paved a way
Across the fen
For the brave Norsemen."
Earl Valthiof, and the people who escaped, fled up to the castle
of York; and there the greatest loss of men had been. This
battle took place upon the Wednesday next Mathias' day (A.D.
1066).
89. OF EARL TOSTE.
Earl Toste had come from Flanders to King Harald as soon as he
arrived in England, and the earl was present at all these
battles. It happened, as he had foretold the king at their first
meeting, that in England many people would flock to them, as
being friends and relations of Earl Toste, and thus the king's
forces were much strengthened. After the battle now told of, all
people in the nearest districts submitted to Harald, but some
fled. Then the king advanced to take the castle, and laid his
army at Stanforda-bryggiur (Stamford Bridge); and as King Harald
had gained so great a victory against so great chiefs and so
great an army, the people were dismayed, and doubted if they
could make any opposition. The men of the castle therefore
determined, in a council, to send a message to King Harald, and
deliver up the castle into his power. All this was soon settled;
so that on Sunday the king proceeded with the whole army to the
castle, and appointed a Thing of the people without the castle,
at which the people of the castle were to be present. At this
Thing all the people accepted the condition of submitting to
Harald, and gave him, as hostages, the children of the most
considerable persons; for Earl Toste was well acquainted with all
the people of that town. In the evening the king returned down
to his ships, after this victory achieved with his own force, and
was very merry. A Thing was appointed within the castle early on
Monday morning, and then King Harald was to name officers to rule
over the town, to give out laws, and bestow fiefs. The same
evening, after sunset, King Harald Godwinson came from the south
to the castle with a numerous army, and rode into the city with
the good-will and consent of the people of the castle. All the
gates and walls were beset so that the Northmen could receive no
intelligence, and the army remained all night in the town.
90. OF KING HARALD'S LANDING.
On Monday, when King Harald Sigurdson had taken breakfast, he
ordered the trumpets to sound for going on shore. The army
accordingly got ready, and he divided the men into the parties
who should go, and who should stay behind. In every division he
allowed two men to land, and one to remain behind. Earl Toste
and his retinue prepared to land with King Harald; and, for
watching the ships, remained behind the king's son Olaf; the
earls of Orkney, Paul and Erlend; and also Eystein Orre, a son of
Thorberg Arnason, who was the most able and best beloved by the
king of all the lendermen, and to whom the king had promised his
daughter Maria. The weather was uncommonly fine, and it was hot
sunshine. The men therefore laid aside their armour, and went on
the land only with their shields, helmets and spears, and girt
with swords; and many had also arrows and bows, and all were very
merry. Now as they came near the castle a great army seemed
coming against them, and they saw a cloud of dust as from horses'
feet, and under it shining shields and bright armour. The king
halted his people, and called to him Earl Toste, and asked him
what army this could be. The earl replied that he thought it
most likely to be a hostle army, but possibly it might be some of
his relations who were seeking for mercy and friendship, in order
to obtain certain peace and safety from the king. Then the king
said, "We must all halt, to discover what kind of a force this
is." They did so; and the nearer this force came the greater it
appeared, and their shining arms were to the sight like glancing
ice.
91. OF EARL TOSTE'S COUNSEL.
Then said King Harald, "Let us now fall upon some good sensible
counsel; for it is not to be concealed that this is an hostile
army and the king himself without doubt is here."
Then said the earl, "The first counsel is to turn about as fast
as we can to our ships to get our men and our weapons, and then
we will make a defence according to our ability; or otherwise let
our ships defend us, for there these horsemen have no power over
us."
Then King Harald said, "I have another counsel. Put three of our
best horses under three of our briskest lads and let them ride
with all speed to tell our people to come quickly to our relief.
The Englishmen shall have a hard fray of it before we give
ourselves up for lost."
The earl said the king must order in this, as in all things, as
he thought best; adding, at the same time, it was by no means his
wish to fly. Then King Harald ordered his banner Land-ravager to
be set up; and Frirek was the name of him who bore the banner.
92. OF KING HARALD'S ARMY.
Then King Harald arranged his army, and made the line of battle
long, but not deep. He bent both wings of it back, so that they
met together; and formed a wide ring equally thick all round,
shield to shield, both in the front and rear ranks. The king
himself and his retinue were within the circle; and there was the
banner, and a body of chosen men. Earl Toste, with his retinue,
was at another place, and had a different banner. The army was
arranged in this way, because the king knew that horsemen were
accustomed to ride forwards with great vigour, but to turn back
immediately. Now the king ordered that his own and the earl's
attendants should ride forwards where it was most required. "And
our bowmen," said he, "shall be near to us; and they who stand in
the first rank shall set the spear-shaft on the ground, and the
spear-point against the horseman's breast, if he rides at them;
and those who stand in the second rank shall set the spear-point
against the horse's breast."
93. OF KING HARALD GODWINSON.
King Harald Godwinson had come with an immense army, both of
cavalry and infantry. Now King Harald Sigurdson rode around his
array, to see how every part was drawn up. He was upon a black
horse, and the horse stumbled under him, so that the king fell
off. He got up in haste and said, "A fall is lucky for a
traveller."
The English king Harald said to the Northmen who were with him,
"Do ye know the stout man who fell from his horse, with the blue
kirtle and the beautiful helmet?"
"That is the king himself." said they.
The English king said, "A great man, and of stately appearance is
he; but I think his luck has left him."
94. OF THE TROOP OF THE NOBILITY.
Twenty horsemen rode forward from the Thing-men's troops against
the Northmen's array; and all of them, and likewise their horses,
were clothed in armour.
One of the horsemen said, "Is Earl Toste in this army?"
The earl answered, "It is not to be denied that ye will find him
here."
The horseman says, "Thy brother, King Harald, sends thee
salutation, with the message that thou shalt have the whole of
Northumberland; and rather than thou shouldst not submit to him,
he will give thee the third part of his kingdom to rule over
along with himself."
The earl replies, "This is something different from the enmity
and scorn he offered last winter; and if this had been offered
then it would have saved many a man's life who now is dead, and
it would have been better for the kingdom of England. But if I
accept of this offer, what will he give King Harald Sigurdson
for his trouble?"
The horseman replied, "He has also spoken of this; and will give
him seven feet of English ground, or as much more as he may be
taller than other men."
"Then," said the earl, "go now and tell King Harald to get ready
for battle; for never shall the Northmen say with truth that Earl
Toste left King Harald Sigurdson to join his enemy's troops, when
he came to fight west here in England. We shall rather all take
the resolution to die with honour, or to gain England by a
victory."
Then the horseman rode back.
King Harald Sigurdson said to the earl, "Who was the man who
spoke so well?"
The earl replied, "That was King Harald Godwinson."
Then, said King Harald Sigurdson, "That was by far too long
concealed from me; for they had come so near to our army, that
this Harald should never have carried back the tidings of our
men's slaughter."
Then said the earl, "It was certainly imprudent for such chiefs,
and it may be as you say; but I saw he was going to offer me
peace and a great dominion, and that, on the other hand, I would
be his murderer if I betrayed him; and I would rather he should
be my murderer than I his, if one of two be to die."
King Harald Sigurdson observed to his men, "That was but a little
man, yet he sat firmly in his stirrups."
It is said that Harald made these verses at this time: --
"Advance! advance!
No helmets glance,
But blue swords play
In our array.
Advance! advance!
No mail-coats glance,
But hearts are here
That ne'er knew fear."
His coat of mail was called Emma; and it was so long that it
reached almost to the middle of his leg, and so strong that no
weapon ever pierced it. Then said King Harald Sigurdson, "These
verses are but ill composed; I must try to make better;" and he
composed the following: --
"In battle storm we seek no lee,
With skulking head, and bending knee,
Behind the hollow shield.
With eye and hand we fend the head;
Courage and skill stand in the stead
Of panzer, helm, and shield,
In hild's bloody field."
Thereupon Thiodolf sang: --
"And should our king in battle fall, --
A fate that God may give to all, --
His sons will vengeance take;
And never shone the sun upon
Two nobler eaglet; in his run,
And them we'll never forsake."
95. OF THE BEGINNING OF THE BATTLE.
Now the battle began. The Englishmen made a hot assault upon the
Northmen, who sustained it bravely. It was no easy matter for
the English to ride against the Northmen on account of their
spears; therefore they rode in a circle around them. And the
fight at first was but loose and light, as long as the Northmen
kept their order of battle; for although the English rode hard
against the Northmen, they gave way again immediately, as they
could do nothing against them. Now when the Northmen thought
they perceived that the enemy were making but weak assaults, they
set after them, and would drive them into flight; but when they
had broken their shield-rampart the Englishmen rode up from all
sides, and threw arrows and spears on them. Now when King Harald
Sigurdson saw this, he went into the fray where the greatest
crash of weapons was, and there was a sharp conflict, in which
many people fell on both sides. King Harald then was in a rage,
and ran out in front of the array, and hewed down with both
hands; so that neither helmet nor armour could withstand him, and
all who were nearest gave way before him. It was then very near
with the English that they had taken to flight. So says Arnor,
the earls' skald: --
"Where battle-storm was ringing,
Where arrow-cloud was singing,
Harald stood there,
Of armour bare,
His deadly sword still swinging.
The foeman feel its bite;
His Norsemen rush to fight,
Danger to share,
With Harald there,
Where steel on steel was ringing."
96. FALL OF KING HARALD.
King Harald Sigurdson was hit by an arrow in the windpipe, and
that was his death-wound. He fell, and all who had advanced with
him, except those who retired with the banner. There was
afterwards the warmest conflict, and Earl Toste had taken charge
of the king's banner. They began on both sides to form their
array again, and for a long time there was a pause in fighting.
Then Thiodolf sang these verses: --
"The army stands in hushed dismay;
Stilled is the clamour of the fray.
Harald is dead, and with him goes
The spirit to withstand our foes.
A bloody scat the folk must pay
For their king's folly on this day.
He fell; and now, without disguise,
We say this business was not wise."
But before the battle began again Harald Godwinson offered his
brother, Earl Toste, peace, and also quarter to the Northmen who
were still alive; but the Northmen called out, all of them
together, that they would rather fall, one across the other, than
accept of quarter from the Englishmen. Then each side set up a
war-shout, and the battle began again. So says Arnor, the earls'
skald: --
"The king, whose name would ill-doers scare,
The gold-tipped arrow would not spare.
Unhelmed, unpanzered, without shield,
He fell among us in the field.
The gallant men who saw him fall
Would take no quarter; one and all
Resolved to die with their loved king,
Around his corpse in a corpse-ring."
97. SKIRMISH OF ORRE.
Eystein Orre came up at this moment from the ships with the men
who followed him, and all were clad in armour. Then Eystein got
King Harald's banner Land-ravager; and now was, for the third
time, one of the sharpest of conflicts, in which many Englishmen
fell, and they were near to taking flight. This conflict is
called Orre's storm. Eystein and his men had hastened so fast
from the ships that they were quite exhausted, and scarcely fit
to fight before they came into the battle; but afterwards they
became so furious, that they did not guard themselves with their
shields as long as they could stand upright. At last they threw
off their coats of ringmail, and then the Englishmen could easily
lay their blows at them; and many fell from weariness, and died
without a wound. Thus almost all the chief men fell among the
Norway people. This happened towards evening; and then it went,
as one might expect, that all had not the same fate, for many
fled, and were lucky enough to escape in various ways; and
darkness fell before the slaughter was altogether ended.
98. OF STYRKAR THE MARSHAL.
Styrkar, King Harald Sigurdson's marshal, a gallant man, escaped
upon a horse, on which he rode away in the evening. It was
blowing a cold wind, and Styrkar had not much other clothing upon
him but his shirt, and had a helmet on his head, and a drawn
sword in his hand. As soon as his weariness was over, he began
to feel cold. A waggoner met him in a lined skin-coat. Styrkar
asks him, "Wilt thou sell thy coat, friend?"
"Not to thee," says the peasant: "thou art a Northman; that I
can hear by thy tongue."
Styrkar replies, "If I were a Northman, what wouldst thou do?"
"I would kill thee," replied the peasant; "but as ill luck would
have it, I have no weapon just now by me that would do it."
Then Styrkar says, "As you can't kill me, friend, I shall try if
I can't kill you." And with that he swung his sword, and struck
him on the neck, so that his head came off. He then took the
skin-coat, sprang on his horse, and rode down to the strand.
Olaf Haraldson had not gone on land with the others, and when he
heard of his father's fall he made ready to sail away with the
men who remained.
99. OF WILLIAM THE BASTARD.
When the Earl of Rouen, William the Bastard, heard of his
relation, King Edward's, death, and also that Harald Godwinson
was chosen, crowned, and consecrated king of England, it appeared
to him that he had a better right to the kingdom of England than
Harald, by reason of the relationship between him and King
Edward. He thought, also, that he had grounds for avenging the
affront that Harald had put upon him with respect to his
daughter. From all these grounds William gathered together a
great army in Normandy, and had many men, and sufficient
transport-shipping. The day that he rode out of the castle to
his ships, and had mounted his horse, his wife came to him, and
wanted to speak with him; but when he saw her he struck at her
with his heel, and set his spurs so deep into her breast that she
fell down dead; and the earl rode on to his ships, and went with
his ships over to England. His brother, Archbishop Otto, was
with him; and when the earl came to England he began to plunder,
and take possession of the land as he came along. Earl William
was stouter and stronger than other men; a great horseman and
warrior, but somewhat stern; and a very sensible man, but not
considered a man to be relied on.
100. FALL OF KING HARALD GODWINSON.
King Harald Godwinson gave King Harald Sigurdson's son Olaf leave
to go away, with the men who had followed him and had not fallen
in battle; but he himself turned round with his army to go south,
for he had heard that William the Bastard was overwhelming the
south of England with a vast army, and was subduing the country
for himself. With King Harald went his brothers Svein and Gyrd,
and Earl Valthiof. King Harald and Earl William met each other
south in England at Helsingja-port (Hastings). There was a great
battle in which King Harald and his brother Earl Gyrd and a great
part of his men fell. This was the nineteenth day after the fall
of King Harald Sigurdson. Harald's brother, Earl Valthiof,
escaped by flight, and towards evening fell in with a division of
William's people, consisting of 100 men; and when they saw Earl
Valthiof's troop they fled to a wood. Earl Valthiof set fire to
the wood, and they were all burnt. So says Thorkel Skallason in
Valthiof's ballad: --
"Earl Valthiof the brave
His foes a warming gave:
Within the blazing grove
A hundred men he drove.
The wolf will soon return,
And the witch's horse will burn
Her sharp claws in the ash,
To taste the Frenchman's flesh."
101. EARL VALTHIOF'S DEATH.
William was proclaimed king of England. He sent a message to
Earl Valthiof that they should be reconciled, and gave him
assurance of safety to come to the place of meeting. The earl
set out with a few men; but when he came to a heath north of
Kastala-bryggia, there met him two officers of King William, with
many followers, who took him prisoner, put him in fetters, and
afterwards he was beheaded; and the English call him a saint.
Thorkel tells of this: --
"William came o'er the sea,
With bloody sword came he:
Cold heart and bloody hand
Now rule the English land.
Earl Valthiof he slew, --
Valthiof the brave and true.
Cold heart and bloody hand
Now rule the English land."
William was after this king of England for twenty-one years, and
his descendants have been so ever since.
102. OF OLAF HARALDSON'S EXPEDITION TO NORWAY.
Olaf, the son of King Harald Sigurdson, sailed with his fleet
from England from Hrafnseyr, and came in autumn to the Orkney
Isles, where the event had happened that Maria, a daughter of
Harald Sigurdson, died a sudden death the very day and hour her
father, King Harald, fell. Olaf remained there all winter; but
the summer after he proceeded east to Norway, where he was
proclaimed king along with his brother Magnus. Queen Ellisif
came from the West, along with her stepson Olaf and her daughter
Ingegerd. There came also with Olaf over the West sea Skule, a
son of Earl Toste, and who since has been called the king's
foster-son, and his brother Ketil Krok. Both were gallant men,
of high family in England, and both were very intelligent; and
the brothers were much beloved by King Olaf. Ketil Krok went
north to Halogaland, where King Olaf procured him a good
marriage, and from him are descended many great people. Skule,
the king's foster-son, was a very clever man, and the handsomest
man that could be seen. He was the commander of King Olaf's
court-men, spoke at the Things (1) and took part in all the
country affairs with the king. The king offered to give Skule
whatever district in Norway he liked, with all the income and
duties that belonged to the king in it. Skule thanked him very
much for the offer, but said he would rather have something else
from him. "For if there came a shift of kings," said he, "the
gift might come to nothing. I would rather take some properties
lying near to the merchant towns, where you, sire, usually take
up your abode, and then I would enjoy your Yule-feasts." The
king agreed to this, and conferred on him lands eastward at
Konungahella, Oslo, Tunsberg, Sarpsborg, Bergen, and north at
Nidaros. These were nearly the best properties at each place,
and have since descended to the family branches which came from
Skule. King Olaf gave Skule his female relative, Gudrun, the
daughter of Nefstein, in marriage. Her mother was Ingerid, a
daughter of Sigurd Syr and Asta, King Olaf the Saint's mother.
Ingerid was a sister of King Olaf the Saint and of King Harald.
Skule and Gudrun's son was Asolf of Reine, who married Thora, a
daughter of Skopte Ogmundson; Asolf's and Thora's son was Guthorm
of Reine, father of Bard, and grandfather of King Inge and of
Duke Skule.
ENDNOTES:
(1) Another instance of the old Norse or Icelandic tongue having
been generally known in a part of England.
103. OF KING HARALD SIGURDSON.
One year after King Harald's fall his body was transported from
England north to Nidaros, and was buried in Mary church, which he
had built. It was a common observation that King Harald
distinguished himself above all other men by wisdom and resources
of mind; whether he had to take a resolution suddenly for himself
and others, or after long deliberation. He was, also, above all
other men, bold, brave, and lucky, until his dying day, as above
related; and bravery is half victory. So says Thiodolf: --
"Harald, who till his dying day
Came off the best in many a fray,
Had one good rule in battle-plain,
In Seeland and elsewhere, to gain --
That, be his foes' strength more or less,
Courage is always half success."
King Herald was a handsome man, of noble appearance; his hair and
beard yellow. He had a short beard, and long mustaches. The one
eyebrow was somewhat higher than the other. He had large hands
(1) and feet; but these were well made. His height was five
ells. He was stern and severe to his enemies, and avenged
cruelly all opposition or misdeed. So says Thiodolf: --
"Severe alike to friends or foes,
Who dared his royal will oppose;
Severe in discipline to hold
His men-at-arms wild and bold;
Severe the bondes to repress;
Severe to punish all excess;
Severe was Harald -- but we call
That just which was alike to all."
King Harald was most greedy of power, and of all distinction and
honour. He was bountiful to the friends who suited him. So says
Thiodolf: --
"I got from him, in sea-fight strong,
A mark of gold for my ship-song.
Merit in any way
He generously would pay."
King Harald was fifty years old when he fell. We have no
particular account of his youth before he was fifteen years old,
when he was with his brother, King Olaf, at the battle of
Stiklestad. He lived thirty-five years after that, and in all
that time was never free from care and war. King Harald never
fled from battle, but often tried cunning ways to escape when he
had to do with great superiority of forces. All the men who
followed King Harald in battle or skirmish said that when he
stood in great danger, or anything came suddenly upon him, he
always took that course which all afterwards saw gave the best
hope of a fortunate issue.
ENDNOTES:
(1) It is a singular physical circumstance, that in almost all
the swords of those ages to be found in the collection of
weapons in the Antiquarian Museum at Copenhagen, the handles
indicate a size of hand very much smaller than the hands of
modern people of any class or rank. No modern dandy, with
the most delicate hands, would find room for his hand to
grasp or wield with case some of the swords of these
Northmen. -- L.
104. KING HARALD AND KING OLAF COMPARED.
When Haldor, a son of Brynjolf Ulfalde the Old, who was a
sensible man and a great chief, heard people talk of how unlike
the brothers Saint Olaf and King Harald were in disposition, he
used to say, "I was in great friendship with both the brothers,
and I knew intimately the dispositions of both, and never did I
know two men more like in disposition. Both were of the highest
understanding, and bold in arms, and greedy of power and
property; of great courage, but not acquainted with the way of
winning the favour of the people; zealous in governing, and
severe in their revenge. King Olaf forced the people into
Christianity and good customs, and punished cruelly those who
disobeyed. This just and rightful severity the chiefs of the
country could not bear, but raised an army against him, and
killed him in his own kingdom; and therefore he is held to be a
saint. King Harald, again, marauded to obtain glory and power,
forced all the people he could under his power, and died in
another king's dominions. Both brothers, in daily life, were of
a worthy and considerate manner of living; they were of great
experience, and very laborious, and were known and celebrated far
and wide for these qualities."
105. KING MAGNUS'S DEATH.
King Magnus Haraldson ruled over Norway the first winter after
King Harald's death (A.D. 1067), and afterwards two years (A.D.
1068-1069) along with his brother, King Olaf. Thus there were
two kings of Norway at that time; and Magnus had the northern and
Olaf the eastern part of the country. King Magnus had a son
called Hakon, who was fostered by Thorer of Steig in
Gudbrandsdal, who was a brother of King Magnus by the mother's
side; and Hakon was a most agreeable man.
After King Harald Sigurdson's death the Danish king Svein let it
be known that the peace between the Northmen and the Danes was at
an end, and insisted that the league between Harald and Svein was
not for longer time than their lives. There was a levy in both
kingdoms. Harald's sons called out the whole people in Norway
for procuring men and ships, and Svein set out from the south
with the Danish army. Messengers then went between with
proposals for a peace; and the Northmen said they would either
have the same league as was concluded between King Harald and
Svein, or otherwise give battle instantly on the spot. Verses
were made on this occasion, viz.: --
"Ready for war or peace,
King Olaf will not cease
From foeman's hand
To guard his land."
So says also Stein Herdison in his song of Olaf: --
"From Throndhjem town, where in repose
The holy king defies his foes,
Another Olaf will defend
His kingdom from the greedy Svein.
King Olaf had both power and right,
And the Saint's favour in the fight.
The Saint will ne'er his kin forsake,
And let Svein Ulfson Norway take."
In this manner friendship was concluded between the kings and
peace between the countries. King Magnus fell ill and died of
the ringworm disease, after being ill for some time. He died and
was buried at Nidaros. He was an amiable king and bewailed by
the people.
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